Israel Fights Back Against the Midianites

31 The Lord spoke to
Moses. He said, 2“I
will help the people of Israel get even
with the Midianites. After that, Moses, you
will die.*”
3So Moses spoke to
the people. He said,
“Choose some of your men to be soldiers. The
Lord will use those men to get even with the
Midianites. 4Choose
1,000 men from each of
the family groups of Israel.
5There
will be a
total of 12,000 soldiers from the family
groups of Israel.”
6Moses sent those
12,000 men to war. He
sent Phineas, the son of Eleazar the priest,
with them. Phineas took the holy things and
the horns and trumpets with him.
7The
people
of Israel fought the Midianites like the Lord
had commanded. They killed all of the
Midianite men. 8Among
the people that they
killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed
Balaam son of Beor with a sword.
9The people of
Israel took the Midianite
women and children as prisoners. They also
took all their sheep, cows, and other things.
10Then they burned
all their towns and
villages. 11They
took all the people and
animals 12and
brought them to Moses, Eleazar
the priest, and all the other people of Israel.
They brought all of the things they took in war
to the camp of Israel. The people of Israel
were camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab.
This was on the east side of the Jordan River
across from Jericho.
13Then
Moses, Eleazar
the priest, and the leaders of the people went
out of the camp to meet with the soldiers.
14Moses was very
angry against the leaders
of the army. He was angry against the
commanders of 1,000 men and against the
commanders of 100 men that came back from
the war. 15Moses
said to them, “Why did you
let the women live?
16These
are the women
who caused the men of Israel to turn away
from the Lord during the Balaam incident—that time at Peor. The disease will again come
to the Lord’s people.
17Now,
kill all the
Midianite boys. And kill all the Midianite
women who had lived with a man. Kill all the
Midianite women who have had sexual
relations with any man.
18You
can let all the
young girls live—but only if they never had
sexual relations with any man.
19And
then, all
of you men who killed other people must stay
outside the camp for seven days. You must
stay outside the camp even if you just touched
a dead body. On the third day, you and your
prisoners must make yourselves pure. You
must do the same thing again on the seventh
day. 20You
must wash all of your clothes. You
must wash anything made with leather, wool,
or wood. You must become pure.”
21Then Eleazar the
priest spoke to the
soldiers. He said, “Those are the rules that the
Lord gave to Moses. Those rules are about
soldiers coming back from war.
22–23But
the
rules for things that can be put in the fire are
different. You must put gold, silver, bronze,
iron, tin, or lead into the fire. And then wash
those things with water and they will be pure.
If things cannot be put in fire, then you must
still wash them with water.
24On
the seventh
day you must wash all of your clothes. Then
you will become pure. After that you can
come into camp.”
25Then the Lord
said to Moses, 26“You,
Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders should
count all of the prisoners, animals, and all of
the things that the soldiers took in war.
27Then
divide those things between the soldiers that
went to war and the rest of the people of
Israel. 28Take
part of those things from the
soldiers that went to war. That part will
belong to the Lord. The Lord’s share is one
thing for every 500 things. This includes
people, cows, donkeys, and sheep.
29Take
those things from the soldiers’ half of the
things they took in war. Then give those
things to Eleazar the priest. That part will
belong to the Lord.
30And
then, from the
people’s half, take one thing for every 50
things. This includes people, cows, donkeys,
sheep, or any other animal. Give that share to
the Levites. Why? Because the Levites take
care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.”
31So Moses and
Eleazar did what the Lord
commanded Moses. 32The
soldiers had taken
675,000 sheep, 3372,000
cows, 3461,000
donkeys, 35and
32,000 women. (Those are
only the women who had not had sexual
relations with any man.)
36The
soldiers that
went to war got 337,500 sheep.
37They
gave
675 sheep to the Lord.
38The
soldiers got
36,000 cows. They gave 72 cows to the Lord.
39The soldiers got
30,500 donkeys. They gave
61 donkeys to the Lord.
40The
soldiers got
16,000 women. They gave 32 women to the
Lord. 41Moses
gave all of those gifts for the
Lord to Eleazar the priest, like the Lord had
commanded him.
42Then {Moses
counted} the people’s half.
This was their share that Moses had taken from
the soldiers that had gone to war.
43The
people
got 337,500 sheep, 4436,000 cows,
4530,500
donkeys, 46and
16,000 women. 47For
every 50
things, Moses took one thing for the Lord. This
included the animals and the people. Then he
gave those things to the Levites. Why?
Because they took care of the Lord’s Holy
Tent. Moses did this like the Lord commanded.
48Then the leaders
of the army (the leaders
over 1,000 men and the leaders over 100 men)
came to Moses. 49They
told Moses, “We, your
servants, have counted our soldiers. We have
not missed any of them.
50So
we are bringing
the Lord’s gift from every soldier. We are
bringing things that are made of gold—arm
bands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces.
This gift to the Lord is to make us pure.*”
51So Moses took all
of those things made
from gold and gave them to Eleazar the
priest. 52The
gold that the leaders of 1,000
men and the leaders of 100 men gave to the
Lord weighed about 420 pounds.* 53The
soldiers kept the rest of their share of the
things they took in war.
54Moses
and Eleazar
the priest took the gold from the leaders of
1,000 men and the leaders of 100 men. Then
they put that gold in the Meeting Tent.* This
present was a memorial* before the Lord for
the people of Israel.

you will die Literally, “you will be gathered to your
people.”
make … pure Or, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means
“to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.”
420 pounds Literally, “16,750 shekels.”
Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of
Israel went to meet with God.
memorial Something that helps people remember things that
happened in the past.